Christian Martyrs by Gustave Dore

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Bulletin of Christian Persecution

December 27, 2011Pakistan
Those who murdered Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, belong to Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Muslim terrorist organisation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said during a Christmas event at Islamabad's Fatima Church.

In cooperation with Interpol, Pakistani authorities are making all possible efforts to bring them back to Pakistan after they fled to Dubai. Paul Bhatti, brother of the slain minister and national harmony advisor to the prime minister, praised the Interior minister's statement. "Rehman Malik`s statement will bring an end to the rumours that have been surfacing regarding Shahbaz Bhatti`s murder," he said.

Iran (hat tip to JihadWatch)
Iranian authorities raided a church that was celebrating Christmas and detained everyone in the building, including children attending Sunday school, a U.K.-based Christian charity said. While the majority of the members were "interrogated, threatened and eventually released," the church's senior pastor, identified only as Farhad, remained in detention, along with his wife and some church leaders, at press time.

December 28, 2012Uganda
Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other. Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Saturday night (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala.

December 29, 2011Egypt (hat tip to JihadWatch)
An offshoot of Egypt's top religious institution, Al Azhar, has called on the government to take a Christian television station off the air, allegedly for offending Muslims, the semi-official Al-Ahram newspaper reported Thursday.

Nigeria (hat tip to NewEnglishReview)
Nigeria's Christians are losing faith that the government will protect them from attacks by Islamic extremists and will "respond appropriately" to future killings, the country's leading church group warned Wednesday. In a public message to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Christian Association of Nigeria called the Christmas Day targeting of churches in several cities "a declaration of war on Christians and Nigeria as an entity."

Nigeria
A Christian couple and their one-year-old son have been shot dead by Muslim gunmen in a 'religious attack' in Nigeria, police said today. he family were in a village near the the city of Jos on Tuesday evening when the killers - believed to be Muslim herdsmen - opened fire.

December 30, 2011Egypt (hat tip to JihadWatch)
Dozens of residents of the village of Baheeg in Assiut, Upper Egypt, burnt three houses owned by a Christian family after a Christian villager allegedly published cartoons mocking Islam on his Facebook account.

A number of Muslim students attacked their Coptic classmate for posting the cartoons, a Muslim student told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The Muslim students attacked the Coptic student on Thursday at Monqebad Secondary School in Assiut. Eyewitnesses said the military intervened to break up the fight and escorted the Coptic youth and his family away from the village. Later, Muslim villagers set fire to the family's houses.

Iraq/Afghanistan/Egypt (hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Christianity in Afghanistan and Iraq could be eradicated in our lifetime, partially as a result of the US troop withdrawal, says Leonard Leo, chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it's increasing year by year," Leo said, concluding with a grim prediction that Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt.

Dubai (hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
A principal and his wife have been sacked from a college whose stated aim is to promote multiculturalism because they are white Christians, they claim.

Professor Malory Nye says he was dismissed from the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education in Dundee, Scotland, because his race and religion were seen by his superiors as a threat to its core Muslim values. He says the college's claims to pursuing multicultural values were a charade and that he was dismissed so he could be replaced by a Muslim.

December 31, 2011 Iran (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
According to reporters of Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News, concerns are growing over the unknown conditions of four of the people arrested during the attack on the AOG church of Ahwaz which took place almost one week ago.

Germany (translated JLH and published by GatesofVienna blog)
An interview with Christian convert and Islamic apostate Sabatina James from Germany.

January 1, 2012Nigeria
Nigeria's president has declared a state of emergency in areas of the country hit by a growing Islamist insurgency, amid escalating violence in Africa's most populous nation. The move came in response to dozens of attacks blamed on Boko Haram, an Islamist group that claims ties to al-Qaeda, most recently a wave of bombings over Christmas that killed nearly 50 people.

Egypt (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
An ultraconservative Egyptian Islamist group says sending Christmas greetings to Christians is "against our beliefs," a position immediately rebuked by other Muslims.
Nadar Bakar, spokesman of the hard-line Al-Nour party, said Wednesday that Muslims should give greetings to Christians only on "personal occasions," not religious ones.

January 2, 2012Mid-East
Christians face waves of persecution in the Mid-East after the "Arab Spring."

January 3, 2012
Germany
This is a short "must-see" video of a Catholic nun who works with Iraqi Christian girls who have been raped and tortured by Muslim men. The title is "This Is What Islam Does" [to Kafir women].

January 4, 2012Nigeria
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram issued an ultimatum on Sunday 1st January giving Christians living in northern Nigeria three days to leave the area. This followed a number of attacks by the militants on churches and other targets over Christmas leaving more than 40 people dead. UpdateHERE.

For information on a talk about Muslim/Christian violence in Nigeria by the Archbishop of Jos Province at the Westminster Institute on January 22, 2012 go HERE.

Indonesia
Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority. The Indonesian Protestant Church Union, locally known as PGI, counted 54 acts of violence and other violations against Christians in 2011, up from 30 in 2010

January 5, 2012Egypt (hat tip to JihadWatch)
An Egyptian cleric talks about Islamic beliefs: "I do not believe that Jesus was crucified. I believe in what the Koran says: 'They killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them.'

Nigeria (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
Gunmen have attacked a church in north-east Nigeria, killing at least six people, the church's pastor says.

"The attackers started shooting sporadically. They shot through the window of the church, and many people were killed including my wife," Mr Jauro told Reuters news agency. Update HERE.

January 6, 2012 Pakistan (hat tip to JihadWatch)
A Pakistani Christian editor has said he receives hate mails and death threats on a daily basis from Pakistan for carrying reports on the persecution of Christians in the South Asian country.

January 9, 2012Egypt
A prominent Christian Egyptian media mogul faces trial on a charge of insulting Islam, lawyers said Monday, based on his relaying a cartoon on his Twitter account.

January 10, 2012Somalia
A Somali convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a "foreign religion," sources said. Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Christian from Janale city in Somali'as Lower Shabelle region, had been taken into custody by Islamic extremist al Shabaab militants in November; the public whipping was meant to mark her release. She received 40 lashes on Dec. 22 while jeered by spectators.

January 11, 2012Nigeria (hat tip to JihadWatch)
Suspected members of Islamist group Boko Haram on Wednesday shot dead four Christians who were believed to be fleeing violence-torn Maiduguri, residents said.

"Their car had just pulled up at a filling station outside the town to refuel when suspected Boko Haram gunmen in another car also pulled up and opened fire on the Igbos, killing them on the spot," said a resident of the city of Potiskum who sells groceries nearby.

Pakistan (hat tip to JihadWatch)
The National Commission of Justice and Peace (NCPJ) has accused the Punjab government of illegally demolishing a welfare centre allegedly without a notice. The centre, Gosha-e-Aman,, was a property of the Catholic Church. Father Emmanuel Yousuf Mani, the NCPJ national director, told a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday that the demolished compound was home to three families and worth billions of rupees. He said the property was registered as the Lahore Charitable Association and was managed by CARITAS Pakistan.

January 13, 2012Sudan (hat tip to CenterForSecurityPolicy)
At least 57 people, most of them women and children, were killed in tribal clashes on Wednesday in South Sudan's vast Jonglei state, the latest deaths in a cycle of ethnic violence displacing 60,000 people, the government said Friday.

Iran (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has rejected an offer to be released from prison if he publicly acknowledges Islam's prophet Mohammed as "a messenger sent by God" well-informed Christians and rights activists said. Iranian authorities reportedly summoned lawyers for Pastor Nadarkhani to his home city of Rasht on December 30, to explain the deal. Local officials indicated they would release the pastor if he agreed to make the statement about Mohammed, Christians with close knowledge about the situation explained.

India (hat tip to JihadWatch)
All India Christian Council in New Delhi on Friday feared backlash against Christians in the country due to incrimination of pastors Jim Borst and CM Khanna by Srinagar's self-styled Islamic Shariat court.

Tarzania
Far from the world media's gaze in remote islands off the eastern coast of Africa, church buildings are razed and Christians are ostracized and imprisoned for their faith - leaving one with a skin disease.

Pakistan (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
A group of people praying in a mosque were so irked by the voices of children singing carols at a nearby church that they decided to silence them-by attacking their house of worship.

The World
Muslim nations make up nine out of the top ten countries where Christians face the "most severe" persecution, and 38 of the top 50, reports U.S.-based Open Doors in its 2012 World Watch List.

January 16, 2012Israel (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
A pro-Israel Christian pastor from Uganda is receiving free medical treatment in Israel after being attacked with acid in Kampala on Christmas Eve. Umar Mulinde, 38, converted to Christianity from Islam when he was in university. Since then, he has openly criticized Islam, and his ministry has included public debates with Muslims. His wife is a popular gospel singer.

"I was attacked by a man who called out to me shouting 'Pastor, Pastor' and I turned to see who he was," said Mulinde. "Then he poured acid which burnt part of my face. As I turned away from the attacker, another man poured liquid on my back and ran away shouting 'Allah Akhbar' (God is great)."

January 17, 2012 Uganda
A 15-year-old Christian girl in western Uganda who lost the use of her legs after her father locked her in a room for six months for leaving Islam has begun to take tentative steps.

January 18, 2012Syria (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began.

Nigeria
A cleric, Pastor Yahaya Abdu of Baptist Church, Bajoga in Funakaye Local Government Area of Gombe State, has been found dead near his house. It was learnt that the body of the preacher was found on Sunday, with his throat slit open.

Sudan
Sudan's Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide their names and contact information, Christian sources said.

Egypt
Anger and frustration have risen among Egypt's Coptic Christians after the recent escalation of court cases against Copts charged with of contempt of Islam. Copts accuse the authorities, including the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces, of exercising double standards in the application of the "contempt of religion" law.

January 20, 2012Egypt (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
A Muslim mob attacked Copts today in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar. No one was reported killed or injured. According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.

An eye-witness said that a straw hut belonging to a Copt was torched to clear the area for a mosque. There are more than 300 mosques in the village and one church.

Italy (Hat tip to and translation by IslamInEurope)
A couple from Albenga (Genoa) says their children have been given to a Muslim family by social services against their will. Makhlou Khalid is a Moroccan married to an Italian, Valentina. They say their children (a 3 and 5 year olds) have been baptized and are Christian.

Kuwait (hat tip to JihadWatch)
According to reports, a Kuwaiti royal prince has become a follower of Jesus Christ. . . . As is well known, the problem of conversions from Islam to other religions is a recurring problem in relationships between followers of the Prophet and other faiths and it is a very serious problem in all countries where the majority of the population is Muslim, even those that at first sight would seem socially progressive. [the sharia law penalty for apostasy is death].

January 20, 2012Sudan
Police this week beat and arrested a church leader in Khartoum, sources told Compass. Evangelist James Kat of the Evangelical Church of Sudan was arrested on Tuesday morning (Jan. 17), with officers beating him as they took him to a North Division police station, the sources said. He was released on bail the same day.

January 21, 2012Pakistan
The Catholic community of Lahore is up in arms against the illegal demolition of the "Gosha-e-Aman", a "place of peace" that welcomed Christians and Muslims, last January 10 by the provincial government of Punjab. One victim has decided to take the case to court by filing a written complaint against the Development Authority and other officials involved in the affair.

Egypt
Anti-Christian violence continues in Egypt, according to local sources, the episodes are linked to the attempt of fundamentalist Islamic fringe - Salafis - to block the vote of the religious minority in the next election. On 19 January, a mob attacked the Coptic Christian community of the village of Kebly-Rahmaniya, near the town of Nag Hammadi, Qena governorate, Upper Egypt. The assailants, chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) attacked and burned down houses, huts, shops and businesses.

Nigeria (hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
At least 80 bodies were piled in a morgue in Nigeria's second-largest city of Kano on Saturday after coordinated bomb attacks and shootouts the previous night, an AFP correspondent reported. Coordinated bomb attacks targeting security forces and gun battles on Friday evening spread chaos in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, with bodies littering the streets on Saturday.

The main newspaper in Nigeria's north said that a purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the violence, saying it was in response to authorities' refusal to release their members from custody.

Indonesia (Hat tip to thereligionofpeace)
Hundreds of people from various [Muslim] radical groups launched a search on Sunday to find the location of the Yasmin church congregation's service and prevent them from worshiping. The groups even went to the home of one of the worshipers.

Protesters from the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami) and the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) surrounded the home where the service was held on Jalan Cempaka no. 10, Taman Yasmin complex in Bogor. "It crosses the line now. The protesters now come to the residential area, which is not a public place," politician Lily Wahid, the sister of late president Abdurrahman Wahid, said at the scene.

Pakistan
Opposition members from minorities lashed out against the provincial government over its possession of Christian properties, saying that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had made the province 'hell' for minorities.

Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) MPA Shahzad Elahi on a point of order raised the issue of Christian's property, Gosha-e-Aman, located in Lahore and said that the Punjab government had made the demolition of churches its mission. He also referred to other properties which had been grabbed by the provincial government, including United Christian Hospital and church property in Garden Town, and added that due to such illegal acts, the province had become a "living hell" for minorities. He strongly condemned the demolition of a 20-kanal portion of a church in Garhi Shahu. Elahi said that the Bible had also been desecrated during the demolition of the church and the windows of the church had been smashed.

January 23, 2012Norway (translation from IslamInEurope)
Two Iranians who converted from Islam to Christianity were stabbed by masked me in Haugesund last week. The attacker shouted 'Kuffar' (Arabic for non-believer) during the attack.

January 24, 2012Indonesia (hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Violence against religious minorities surged in Indonesia in 2011, with authorities standing aside and failing to uphold the rule of law as Islamist mobs attacked Christians and Ahmadis, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual report on the country.

Nigeria
Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday (Jan. 22) left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed. The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2, residents of Tafawa Balewa said, was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.

January 25, 2012Sudan
Islamic militias loyal to the Sudanese government have kidnapped two Catholic priests in Rabak, Christian sources said.

A large truck smashed through the gates of the St. Josephine Bakhita's Catholic Church compound in Rabak, on Jan. 15 at 10 p.m., and the assailants broke down the rectory door, the sources said. The Rev. Joseph Makwey and the Rev. Sylvester Mogga were kidnapped at gunpoint.

Somalia
A Muslim father is arrested after his son converts to Christianity.

January 27, 2012Egypt (hat tip to JihadWatch)
Two Copts, father and son, were killed yesterday in a suburb of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, shot dead by a Muslim bandit, and his accomplices because they refused to pay the money demanded by the racket.

Uganda
A former member of a Muslim extremist group in Uganda who converted to Christianity is in hiding in Kenya, his movements severely restricted following threats to kill him.

January 28, 2012Egypt
A mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat, Alexandria this afternoon. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone.

According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. "They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood," according to one witness.

About Me

I am an Air Force Veteran of the Cold War and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm). I live on a wooded hilltop with my two rescued dogs, Yogi and Ranger, and two rescued cats, White Sox, and Mittens. We share my land with several deer, a family of red-tailed hawks, a barn owl, numerous squirrels (that my dogs and the cat tree together), a family of pileated woodpeckers and numerous cottontail rabbits, and an occasional opossum or raccoon.